WBK: Bench Leads Jackrabbits Past Fort Wayne

brookings, sd

Katie Lingle scored a career-high 18 points to lead a strong performance by the Jackrabbit bench as the South Dakota State University women’s basketball team ran its winning streak to four games with a 72-62 victory over Fort Wayne Thursday night at Frost Arena.

In winning for the 12th time in 13 games, the Summit League-leading Jackrabbits improved to 18-6 overall and 10-1 in league play. Fort Wayne dropped to 8-13 overall, 4-6 in The Summit League.

With the Jackrabbits trailing 8-5 four minutes into the contest, Lingle came off the bench to score two straight baskets, sparking a 10-0 run that gave SDSU the lead for good.

The Mastodons went more than 10 minutes without a field goal as SDSU reeled off another 14-1 outburst to lead 29-11 after a three-pointer by Rachel Walters with 3 minutes, 44 seconds to play in the front half. SDSU reserves accounted for all 14 points in the run with Lingle scoring six andTara Heiser adding five.

Fort Wayne trimmed the margin to 36-24 at halftime as Erin Murphy scored a basket just before time expired.

SDSU opened the second half by making eight of its first nine shots from the field, taking its largest lead of the night at 19 points, 47-28, on a three-pointer by Gabrielle Boever four minutes into the stanza.

But the Mastodons wouldn’t go down without a fight. The Summit League’s leading scorer, Amanda Hyde, put the team on her back, scoring the first 11 points of the second half for Fort Wayne. Hyde went on to score 23 of her game-high 29 points in the second half, pulling the Mastodons to within 60-54 on two free throws with 5:15 remaining.

However, the Jackrabbits stemmed the tide with three straight baskets and survived some erratic free throw shooting down the stretch to record the 10-point victory

Besides her 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, Lingle tied a season high with nine rebounds as the Jackrabbits held a 44-31 advantage on the boards. Boever finished the night with 13 points, while Ashley Eide scored all 11 of her points in the second half, to go along with sevenrebounds, six assists, two blocked shots and a pair of steals.

The Jackrabbits held a 33-3 advantage in bench points.

SDSU finished the night 28-of-55 from the field, 50.9 percent, including 4-of-9 from three-point range. At the line, the Jackrabbits made 12-of-23 attempts, 52.2 percent.

Hyde was joined in double figures by Erin Murphy with 14 points and Rachel Mauk with 12. Hyde also led the Mastodons with eight rebounds and three steals.

The Mastodons ended the game 20-of-55 from the field, 36.4 percent, including an 8-for-28 effort from behind the arc. Fort Wayne made 14-of-20 free throw attempts for 70 percent.